A CENTRALISED approach to buying goods and services by government has secured savings of at least £465,000 of taxpayers' money.
That's what Treasury Minister Anne Craine MHK told Tynwald this morning after a question from north Douglas MHK John Houghton on whether government had changed its procurement policy to the detriment of local suppliers.
According to the Minister government is saving £300,000 on IT support and £165,000 on road diesel requirements. Further money will also be saved centralising, via the Post Office, the buying of plain paper and envelopes.
Mrs Craine said: "The procurement policy is a co-ordinated approach to buying goods and services for government that aims both to support the local economy and achieve better value for taxpayers' money.
"I would like to assure the Honourable Member that whilst the policy does seek to deliver best value for money to government as a whole, it is not detrimental to local suppliers. Indeed the opposite is true.
"By breaking down a previously large single contract into a number of smaller contracts a greater number of local suppliers have been able to compete and win government business. Not only is this good for local businesses, government also expects to see an annual saving in excess of £300,000 for this category of spend as a result.
"Further saving of public money was achieved when government brought together its road diesel requirements into a single tender. Not only was the contract won by a long-standing Manx company, it is also expected that the taxpayer will again see a saving this time in the region of £165,000 over the 2 year life of the contact when compared with previous expenditure."
Mrs Craine said the arrangement with the Post Office is for plain paper and envelopes only and not stationery in general as reported by some.
She continued: "This new arrangement will see, for the first time, all local suppliers being invited to compete on a level playing field for all of the government’s plain paper and envelope requirements, on which government spends hundreds of thousands of pounds each year.
"I would like to make it clear that the Post Office is not in competition with local suppliers and will not be tendering for this business. Instead the Post Office will have the responsibility of ensuring that for the very first time all government expenditure for these commodities is directed towards the Isle of Man market and that all local suppliers are invited to compete for the business."
Mrs Craine said the government's priority on behalf of the public had to be the protection of taxpayers' money and the interests of the Island's economy as a whole.
She concluded: "Far from being to their detriment government's procurement policy aims to open up fair opportunities for all local suppliers whilst achieving a better deal for the taxpayer.
"Local suppliers able to trade competitively in their chosen market should have nothing to fear from this policy."
